Waiting for God(ot)

Ugh! I hate computers and the Internet!

Yesterday I spent a half-hour session updating my journal, only to have Blogger crash when I pressed the "publish" button. Someday, somehow, someone will win the Nobel Prize in Computer Science by figuring out why software is so much less reliable than hardware. And then maybe an entrepreneur will grow Bill Gates-rich inventing a solution to the problem! Meanwhile, I am initiating a new proceedure for my blogs: Write in Notepad first, then copy/paste the text and post!

It's been sunny and warm this week. Spring is truly upon us. Wednesday was the hottest, about 82 degrees downtown. That translates to about 85 where I live in Mira Mesa.

Yesterday IVR's driver finally showed up and picked up the hospital bed, Hoyer lift and suction machine. I am amazed at how much room I now have in the apartment. Joe dragged the big, blue recliner out of my bedroom and put it back in the living room where it belongs. I can invite company to sit comfortably now, instead of on the hardwood dining room chairs.

Since last Friday, my parents have been on vacation in Cabo. They will return home today. I doubt they will be in any mood to come visit, however. It's a 2-hour flight from Cabo to San Diego.

In world events, Terri Schiavo and the Pope are dead. Requiescant in pacem. Enough has been written and said about the Schiavo incident and I don't feel I can add anything more to the controversy. I will say that feeding tubes are not extraordinary medical treatment, and that brain damage is not brain death.

I'm not even sure that "extraordinary treatment" is a valid criterion in itself for end-of-life decisions. For example, I use a ventilator. Is that extraordinary treatment? I'm certain many people, when confronted with the concept of artificial life support, think "Oh my God, never!" As technology advances, however, the distinction between artificial and natural becomes increasingly fuzzy. In the future, we will be able to genetically enhance ourselves, add artificial organs and limbs, and inject nanobots into our bodies to supplement functionality or cure disease. As people become accustomed to new technologies, they will be increasingly less likely to regard them with "shock and awe."

Now, there are some hypocritical aspects to the Schiavo controversy as well. None of the Republicans and few Right-to-Lifers propose how to pay for people to be maintained in a nursing home. Bush has proposed massive cutbacks to the federal portion of Medicaid, which will cause states to reduce care. I suspect that, had Shiavo been a Medicaid patient rather than a private-pay patient (due to the money her husband obtained via a class-action suit), the hospice would have yanked her feeding tube long ago. While governor of Texas, Hypocrite-in-Chief Bush signed a law allowing hospitals to terminate life support against the wishes of the patient's family, if the hospitals deemed it necessary. I just read about two cases in Texas where that has happened. In the case of a baby, the hospital "pulled the plug" despite the mother's pleas. In the case of an adult man, they want to disconnect, but the family is hopeful to find another hospital to receive the patient before the act is carried out. Now, why would a hospital want to disconnect patients from life support? Couldn't be to save money, could it? Nah....

Finally, I did watch the final episode of Carnivale. Although I did enjoy it, the final episode did continue the flawed pattern of season 2, which progressed way to fast and left more open ends than it closed in its hurry to wrap everything up neatly. The real intruigue of the series was that it didn't wrap everything up; it left the viewers with a sense of mystery. But, the public and critics are spoiled in our instant-gratification culture. They want to know it all, and immediately if not sooner. More's the pity.

The rest of today I will be revising my story, "Bob's Basement Dive ," which I intend to send out next week.

More updates to come!